HOLY BIBLE: Jeremiah 23 (original) (raw)

1 ὦ οἱ ποιμένες οἱ διασκορπίζοντες καὶ ἀπολλύοντες τὰ πρόβατα τῆς νομῆς μου 2 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἐπὶ τοὺς ποιμαίνοντας τὸν λαόν μου ὑμεῖς διεσκορπίσατε τὰ πρόβατά μου καὶ ἐξώσατε αὐτὰ καὶ οὐκ ἐπεσκέψασθε αὐτά ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐκδικῶ ἐ{F'} ὑμᾶς κατὰ τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα ὑμῶν 3 καὶ ἐγὼ εἰσδέξομαι τοὺς καταλοίπους τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς γῆς οὗ ἐξῶσα αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖ καὶ καταστήσω αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν νομὴν αὐτῶν καὶ αὐξηθήσονται καὶ πληθυνθήσονται 4 καὶ ἀναστήσω αὐτοῖς ποιμένας οἳ ποιμανοῦσιν αὐτούς καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσονται ἔτι οὐδὲ πτοηθήσονται λέγει κύριος 5 ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται λέγει κύριος καὶ ἀναστήσω τῷ Δαυιδ ἀνατολὴν δικαίαν καὶ βασιλεύσει βασιλεὺς καὶ συνήσει καὶ ποιήσει κρίμα καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς 6 ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ σωθήσεται Ιουδας καὶ Ισραηλ κατασκηνώσει πεποιθώς καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ὃ καλέσει αὐτὸν κύριος Ιωσεδεκ 7 διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται λέγει κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ἔτι ζῇ κύριος ὃς ἀνήγαγεν τὸν οἶκον Ισραηλ ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου 8 ἀλλά ζῇ κύριος ὃς συνήγαγεν ἅπαν τὸ σπέρμα Ισραηλ ἀπὸ γῆς βορρᾶ καὶ ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν χωρῶν οὗ ἐξῶσεν αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖ καὶ ἀπεκατέστησεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν

1 Out upon them, the Lord says, the shepherds who ravage and disperse my flock, sheep of my own pasturing! 2 This is the Lord’s word to the shepherds that guide his people: You are the men who have dispersed my flock, driven it to and fro, and made no account of it; account you must give it me, says the Lord, Israel’s God, for all you have done amiss. 3 Then will I reassemble all that is left of my flock, scattered over so many lands, and restore them to their old pasture-ground, to increase and grow numerous there; 4 shepherds I mean to give them that will do shepherd’s work; fears and alarms shall be none to daunt them, and none shall be missing from their full count, the Lord says. 5 Nay, a time is coming, the Lord says, when I will raise up, from the stock of David, a faithful scion at last. The land shall have a king to reign over it, and reign over it wisely, giving just sentence and due award. 6 When that time comes, Juda shall find deliverance, none shall disturb Israel’s rest; and the name given to this king shall be, The Lord vindicates us. 7 In those days to come, says the divine message, the living Lord men swear by will no longer be the God who rescued Israel from Egypt; 8 the living God will be one who rescued Israel and brought them home from the north country, and from all the places of exile he had once designed for them, to live in their own land again.[1]

1

Væ pastoribus qui disperdunt et dilacerant
gregem pascuæ meæ! dicit Dominus.

2
Ideo hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël
ad pastores qui pascunt populum meum:
Vos dispersistis gregem meum,
et ejecistis eos, et non visitastis eos:
ecce ego visitabo super vos
malitiam studiorum vestrorum, ait Dominus. 3
Et ego congregabo reliquias gregis mei
de omnibus terris ad quas ejecero eos illuc:
et convertam eos ad rura sua,
et crescent et multiplicabuntur. 4
Et suscitabo super eos pastores, et pascent eos:
non formidabunt ultra, et non pavebunt,
et nullus quæretur ex numero, dicit Dominus. 5

Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus,
et suscitabo David germen justum:
et regnabit rex, et sapiens erit,
et faciet judicium et justitiam in terra.

6
In diebus illis salvabitur Juda,
et Israël habitabit confidenter:
et hoc est nomen quod vocabunt eum:
Dominus justus noster. 7
Propter hoc ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus,
et non dicent ultra: Vivit Dominus,
qui eduxit filios Israël de terra Ægypti, 8
sed: Vivit Dominus,
qui eduxit et adduxit semen domus Israël de terra aquilonis,
et de cunctis terris ad quas ejeceram eos illuc,
et habitabunt in terra sua.

9 ἐν τοῖς προφήταις συνετρίβη ἡ καρδία μου ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐσαλεύθη πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐγενήθην ὡς ἀνὴρ συντετριμμένος καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος συνεχόμενος ἀπὸ οἴνου ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου καὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου εὐπρεπείας δόξης αὐτοῦ 10 ὅτι ἀπὸ προσώπου τούτων ἐπένθησεν ἡ γῆ ἐξηράνθησαν αἱ νομαὶ τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ δρόμος αὐτῶν πονηρὸς καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς αὐτῶν οὐχ οὕτως 11 ὅτι ἱερεὺς καὶ προφήτης ἐμολύνθησαν καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου εἶδον πονηρίας αὐτῶν 12 διὰ τοῦτο γενέσθω ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτῶν αὐτοῖς εἰς ὀλίσθημα ἐν γνόφῳ καὶ ὑποσκελισθήσονται καὶ πεσοῦνται ἐν αὐτῇ διότι ἐπάξω ἐ{P'} αὐτοὺς κακὰ ἐν ἐνιαυτῷ ἐπισκέψεως αὐτῶν φησὶν κύριος 13 καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις Σαμαρείας εἶδον ἀνομήματα ἐπροφήτευσαν διὰ τῆς Βααλ καὶ ἐπλάνησαν τὸν λαόν μου Ισραηλ 14 καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις Ιερουσαλημ ἑώρακα φρικτά μοιχωμένους καὶ πορευομένους ἐν ψεύδεσι καὶ ἀντιλαμβανομένους χειρῶν πονηρῶν τοῦ μὴ ἀποστραφῆναι ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐγενήθησάν μοι πάντες ὡς Σοδομα καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες αὐτὴν ὥσπερ Γομορρα 15 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ψωμιῶ αὐτοὺς ὀδύνην καὶ ποτιῶ αὐτοὺς ὕδωρ πικρόν ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν Ιερουσαλημ ἐξῆλθεν μολυσμὸς πάσῃ τῇ γῇ

9 A message to the prophets: Crushed is the heart in me, and my whole being trembles; my thoughts whirl like a drunken man’s, bemused by a divine presence, by awe of a divine voice. 10 The whole land is a nest of adulterers; their guilt it is that widows the countryside, parches the upland meadows; reckless their pursuit of mischief, through the power they wield all goes amiss. 11 Prophet and priest alike are impious; in my own house, the Lord says, those ill-doings of theirs are plain to view. 12 Perilously they shall fare as one that walks by night in slippery places; falter and fall they must; punishment awaits them, the Lord says, my audit-year is at hand. 13 For the prophets of Samaria how was it I lost all liking?[2] Because they were the spokesmen of Baal, and did but lead Israel astray, that was my people. 14 And now the same foul adultery I find in the prophets of Jerusalem, the same treacherous dealings; and the sinner is encouraged to go on in his evil ways, till city and citizens, for me, are one with Sodom and Gomorrha. 15 A warning to you then, prophets, from the Lord God of hosts, that he will give you wormwood to eat, gall to drink; you, the fountain-head of that pollution which overflows all the land.

9 Ad prophetas:

Contritum est cor meum in medio mei;
contremuerunt omnia ossa mea:
factus sum quasi vir ebrius,
et quasi homo madidus a vino,
a facie Domini,
et a facie verborum sanctorum ejus.

10
Quia adulteris repleta est terra,
quia a facie maledictionis luxit terra,
arefacta sunt arva deserti:
factus est cursus eorum malus,
et fortitudo eorum dissimilis. 11
Propheta namque et sacerdos polluti sunt,
et in domo mea inveni malum eorum, ait Dominus. 12
Idcirco via eorum erit quasi lubricum in tenebris:
impellentur enim, et corruent in ea:
afferam enim super eos mala,
annum visitationis eorum, ait Dominus. 13
Et in prophetis Samariæ vidi fatuitatem:
prophetabant in Baal,
et decipiebant populum meum Israël. 14
Et in prophetis Jerusalem vidi similitudinem adulterantium,
et iter mendacii:
et confortaverunt manus pessimorum,
ut non converteretur unusquisque a malitia sua:
facti sunt mihi omnes ut Sodoma,
et habitatores ejus quasi Gomorrha. 15
Propterea hæc dicit Dominus exercituum ad prophetas:
Ecce ego cibabo eos absinthio,
et potabo eos felle:
a prophetis enim Jerusalem egressa est pollutio
super omnem terram.

21 οὐκ ἀπέστελλον τοὺς προφήτας καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔτρεχον οὐκ ἐλάλησα πρὸς αὐτούς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐπροφήτευον 22 καὶ εἰ ἔστησαν ἐν τῇ ὑποστάσει μου καὶ εἰσήκουσαν τῶν λόγων μου καὶ τὸν λαόν μου ἂν ἀπέστρεφον αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν πονηρῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων αὐτῶν 23 θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι λέγει κύριος καὶ οὐχὶ θεὸς πόρρωθεν 24 εἰ κρυβήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐν κρυφαίοις καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ὄψομαι αὐτόν μὴ οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ λέγει κύριος 25 ἤκουσα ἃ λαλοῦσιν οἱ προφῆται ἃ προφητεύουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου ψευδῆ λέγοντες ἠνυπνιασάμην ἐνύπνιον 26 ἕως πότε ἔσται ἐν καρδίᾳ τῶν προφητῶν τῶν προφητευόντων ψευδῆ καὶ ἐν τῷ προφητεύειν αὐτοὺς τὰ θελήματα καρδίας αὐτῶν 27 τῶν λογιζομένων τοῦ ἐπιλαθέσθαι τοῦ νόμου μου ἐν τοῖς ἐνυπνίοις αὐτῶν ἃ διηγοῦντο ἕκαστος τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ καθάπερ ἐπελάθοντο οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν τοῦ ὀνόματός μου ἐν τῇ Βααλ 28 ὁ προφήτης ἐν ᾧ τὸ ἐνύπνιόν ἐστιν διηγησάσθω τὸ ἐνύπνιον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν ᾧ ὁ λόγος μου πρὸς αὐτόν διηγησάσθω τὸν λόγον μου ἐ{P'} ἀληθείας τί τὸ ἄχυρον πρὸς τὸν σῖτον οὕτως οἱ λόγοι μου λέγει κύριος 29 οὐχὶ οἱ λόγοι μου ὥσπερ πῦρ φλέγον λέγει κύριος καὶ ὡς πέλυξ κόπτων πέτραν 30 διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πρὸς τοὺς προφήτας λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός τοὺς κλέπτοντας τοὺς λόγους μου ἕκαστος παρὰ τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ 31 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πρὸς τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς ἐκβάλλοντας προφητείας γλώσσης καὶ νυστάζοντας νυσταγμὸν ἑαυτῶν 32 ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πρὸς τοὺς προφήτας τοὺς προφητεύοντας ἐνύπνια ψευδῆ καὶ διηγοῦντο αὐτὰ καὶ ἐπλάνησαν τὸν λαόν μου ἐν τοῖς ψεύδεσιν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖς πλάνοις αὐτῶν καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀπέστειλα αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐκ ἐνετειλάμην αὐτοῖς καὶ ὠφέλειαν οὐκ ὠφελήσουσιν τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον

21 An errand these prophets ran, but none of mine; a message they gave, but not of my sending. 22 Privy to my design had they been, ah, then they should have uttered my own warnings, and so I might have turned my people aside from false paths, and erring thoughts! 23 God am I, the Lord says, only when I stand near, and not when I am far away? 24 Where, he would know, will you hide so close that he is not watching you, he, the Lord, that fills heaven and earth? 25 No word, he says, but reaches my ears when one of these prophets gives false guidance in my name; I had a dream, he will tell you, I had a dream! 26 Will they never have had enough of their lying divinations, their cheating fantasies? 27 Dreams bandied from mouth to mouth, for these would they have my people barter away the memory of me, as their fathers did for Baal? 28 Nay, let the dreamer be content to tell his dreams, and the prophet to whom my word comes utter my word faithfully; chaff and grain must not be mingled. 29 My word is a fire, the Lord says, a hammer to break rocks in pieces; 30 out upon the prophets, I say, who proclaim divine utterances they have borrowed from their fellow men;[4] 31 out upon the prophets, I say, who let their tongues wag and then cry, Oracle. 32 Out upon the prophets, I say, who dream all amiss and recount their dreams, leading my people astray with their lies and their mummeries; yet errand or warrant they had none from me, the Lord says, nor yet to this people of mine bring any advantage.

21
Non mittebam prophetas,
et ipsi currebant:
non loquebar ad eos,
et ipsi prophetabant. 22
Si stetissent in consilio meo,
et nota fecissent verba mea populo meo,
avertissem utique eos a via sua mala,
et a cogitationibus suis pessimis. 23
Putasne Deus e vicino ego sum, dicit Dominus,
et non Deus de longe? 24
Si occultabitur vir in absconditis,
et ego non videbo eum? dicit Dominus.
Numquid non cælum et terram ego impleo? dicit Dominus. 25
Audivi quæ dixerunt prophetæ
prophetantes in nomine meo mendacium,
atque dicentes: Somniavi, somniavi. 26
Usquequo istud est in corde prophetarum vaticinantium mendacium,
et prophetantium seductiones cordis sui? 27
Qui volunt facere ut obliviscatur populus meus nominis mei,
propter somnia eorum quæ narrat unusquisque ad proximum suum,
sicut obliti sunt patres eorum nominis mei propter Baal? 28
Propheta qui habet somnium,
narret somnium:
et qui habet sermonem meum,
loquatur sermonem meum vere.
Quid paleis ad triticum? dicit Dominus. 29
Numquid non verba mea sunt quasi ignis, dicit Dominus,
et quasi malleus conterens petram? 30
Propterea ecce ego ad prophetas, ait Dominus,
qui furantur verba mea unusquisque a proximo suo. 31
Ecce ego ad prophetas, ait Dominus,
qui assumunt linguas suas, et aiunt: Dicit Dominus. 32
Ecce ego ad prophetas somniantes mendacium, ait Dominus,
qui narraverunt ea, et seduxerunt populum meum
in mendacio suo et in miraculis suis,
cum ego non misissem eos, nec mandassem eis:
qui nihil profuerunt populo huic, dicit Dominus.

33 καὶ ἐὰν ἐρωτήσωσί σε ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ἢ ἱερεὺς ἢ προφήτης λέγων τί τὸ λῆμμα κυρίου καὶ ἐρεῖς αὐτοῖς ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ λῆμμα καὶ ῥάξω ὑμᾶς λέγει κύριος 34 καὶ ὁ προφήτης καὶ ὁ ἱερεὺς καὶ ὁ λαός οἳ ἂν εἴπωσιν λῆμμα κυρίου καὶ ἐκδικήσω τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐκεῖνον καὶ τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ 35 ὅτι οὕτως ἐρεῖτε ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ τί ἀπεκρίθη κύριος καὶ τί ἐλάλησεν κύριος 36 καὶ λῆμμα κυρίου μὴ ὀνομάζετε ἔτι ὅτι τὸ λῆμμα τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἔσται ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ 37 καὶ διὰ τί ἐλάλησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν 38 διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός ἀν{Q'} ὧν εἴπατε τὸν λόγον τοῦτον λῆμμα κυρίου καὶ ἀπέστειλα πρὸς ὑμᾶς λέγων οὐκ ἐρεῖτε λῆμμα κυρίου 39 διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ λαμβάνω καὶ ῥάσσω ὑμᾶς καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἣν ἔδωκα ὑμῖν καὶ τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν 40 καὶ δώσω ἐ{F'} ὑμᾶς ὀνειδισμὸν αἰώνιον καὶ ἀτιμίαν αἰώνιον ἥτις οὐκ ἐπιλησθήσεται

33 And if people, or prophet, or priest, should greet thee with the question, Pray, what burden[5] is the Lord taking up today? thy answer shall be, You are the burden I bear, the Lord says, and I mean to cast you from my shoulders. 34 Prophet, priest or simple citizen that asks thus about the Lord’s burden does it at his own peril, and the peril of all his household; 35 be content to ask friend or neighbour, What oracle, what message has the Lord given? 36 Do not speak any more of his burden. If you do, you lay a heavy charge upon yourselves, by bandying words with the living God, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. 37 Ask the prophet what the Lord’s oracle, what the Lord’s message is; 38 if you ask after the Lord’s burden, this warning I give you from him: For your disobedience to the message I sent, commanding you to use the word Burden no longer, 39 I will make a burden of you, and carry you away, and leave you abandoned, you and your city, my gift to you and to your fathers. 40 You shall be a laughing-stock for ever, a by-word eternally; time shall never efface the memory of your shame.

33
Si igitur interrogaverit te populus iste,
vel propheta, aut sacerdos, dicens:
Quod est onus Domini?
dices ad eos: Vos estis onus:
projiciam quippe vos, dicit Dominus. 34
Et propheta, et sacerdos, et populus
qui dicit: Onus Domini:
visitabo super virum illum et super domum ejus. 35
Hæc dicetis unusquisque ad proximum,
et ad fratrem suum:
Quid respondit Dominus?
et quid locutus est Dominus? 36
Et onus Domini ultra non memorabitur:
quia onus erit unicuique sermo suus,
et pervertistis verba Dei viventis,
Domini exercituum, Dei nostri. 37
Hæc dices ad prophetam:
Quid respondit tibi Dominus?
et quid locutus est Dominus? 38
Si autem onus Domini dixeritis,
propter hoc hæc dicit Dominus:
Quia dixistis sermonem istum: Onus Domini,
et misi ad vos dicens: Nolite dicere: Onus Domini: 39
propterea ecce ego tollam vos portans,
et derelinquam vos,
et civitatem quam dedi vobis et patribus vestris,
a facie mea: 40
et dabo vos in opprobrium sempiternum,
et in ignominiam æternam,
quæ numquam oblivione delebitur.

[1] vv. 7, 8. See 16.14, 15.

[2] ‘I lost all liking’; the Latin here probably means not ‘I found foolishness’, but ‘I found insipidity’, which is an exact rendering of the Hebrew.

[3] vv. 19, 20. See 30.23, 24, where the same words are repeated; some think they have been included by error in the present context.

[4] Literally, ‘Steal my words each man from his neighbour’, but the context (cf. verse 22 above) makes it clear that there is no allusion to genuine messages from Almighty God.

[5] vv. 33-40. The Hebrews used the same word for (i) a load or pack, (ii) the content of a divine revelation; see Is. 13.1 and passim. The people of Jerusalem, weary of Jeremias’ continual pessimism, used to mock him by asking what was the Lord’s ‘burden’ (much as we talk about the burden of a song, the burden of a complaint). This levity of theirs is here rebuked, and threatened with punishment.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd